My Blog

Menu

Progress Update: Untitled Sci-fi short story

I’m working on a short story I had initially planned on submitting to Sword & Laser’s upcoming anthology. I’ve got the whole story outlined and have written about 3000 words of a rough draft. Since I’m only about a quarter of the way through the story, I don’t think I’ll make the cut-off of 7500 words to get accepted. I’ll probably end up finding another home for this one and possibly think up another story that I’d be able to submit to the anthology.

To outline the story I used the advice on Jim Butcher’s live journal site (I recommend starting here and reading each post in succession – most are relevant). The use of scene/sequel structure really helped me create a plot that continually upped the stakes and drove the story forward. Once I had the outline, writing hasn’t been too difficult since I have a plan to follow. I think the area that I’m lacking right now is fully fleshing out my characters, but I’m hoping to get that down in an editing pass.